Roadtrek Technology and Camping Rally

When we were asked to present one of our seminars to the Roadtrek Technology and Camping Rally, we accepted just because it was on our route and scheduled at the end of the season after all our other obligations were over.  We knew it would be a small rally and didn’t expect it to be very memorable.  Little did we know that we were saving the best for last!  Outside of our own TechnoGeek Learning Rally, this group was the most eager for Geeks on Tour information!

Small but mighty Roadtreks

Roadtrek Rally

We were originally scheduled for 3 hours on the first morning of the rally, but they ended up giving us the floor both morning and afternoon of the second day as well.  We welcomed 10 new members to Geeks on Tour.  Out of a group of 24 rigs – I think that’s our highest percentage yet!

We handed out free trial copies of Streets & Trips and showed them how to use it along with the POI megafile.  We demonstrated Dropbox as an example of Cloud Computing.  We also demonstrated Google Drive where we could both edit one online document simultaneously.  We showed them smartphone and tablet apps like the free Google Translate, and how to scan Barcodes.  We just kept on showing them all our favorite stuff like face recognition in Picasa, making a blog with Blogger, and they ate it up.  Several of them wanted details when Jim showed off his new Microsoft Surface Pro.  The main selling point is that this is a tablet that is also a full-blown Windows computer so it can run programs like Quickbooks, Picasa, Streets & Trips etc..  It is Jim’s main computer now.  It’s a tiny tablet to grab and go, but when at his desk he uses an external monitor, keyboard and mouse for a full desktop experience. If you’re interested in buying one, there’s an Amazon ad at the bottom of this post.  If you click that and buy – we’ll get a few dollars.

Jim's Surface Pro (the little screen in the middle) with external monitor, keyboard, and mouse.

By the second afternoon, we didn’t even present any particular topic – we just opened it up for any and all questions.  Stump the Geeks!  They got us once, but Google came to our rescue and we gave them their answer after all!

The Roadtrek group playing Stump the Geeks!

Presenting our Smartphone Overview class to the Roadtrek Rally

They didn't let us go before we agreed to return for their Chapter rally in February 2014!  It’s on our calendar now.  It will be held at this same park – Tropical Palms in Orlando.

We really enjoyed these Roadtrekers!

We had a great time … Thanks to Dave Gottdiner for inviting us!

A Setting for Writing

My day to day reality is pretty cool.  But it's still my day to day reality and I look for opportunities to spend time doing something even cooler.

How about this?  We parked the RV at Alex's house in Melrose Florida.  Alex is an old high school friend that we have gotten reacquainted with in recent years precisely because she has space - and hookups - for us to park our RV!  It's a beautiful place don't you think?

We're here this time because of a writer's workshop that I'm taking.  Let me give you a little background.  There was a guy in my high school class (along with Alex) named Cary Tennis.  He went on to become a writer and has earned an enviable amount of fame as the advice columnist for Salon.com.  A quiet, quirky kid in high school, I am in awe of his words and wisdom in this column.  I noticed that he offers writing workshops near his home in San Francisco and dreamed of being able to attend one someday.  When I saw that he was going to be offering one of his workshops in Alex's town of Melrose, Florida ... and that we would still be in Florida at the time.  It took me 2 seconds to decide to attend.

I didn't even know about the best part ... the setting.  Alex found a house right on lake Santa Fe that was available to rent.  Most of the participants would be flying in and staying there.  I, of course, stayed in the RV in Alex's yard, but the workshop was held at the house, so I enjoyed it all day long.  What do you think?

The room where we wrote, talked, laughed and cried.

The morning view from the end of the dock

The sunset view from the end of the dock

Places for quiet contemplation

Time for private conversations

Cary Tennis - still the quiet, quirky kid I knew in High School

Our group.

The one who wasn't there for the group shot.

Inspiration

Cary leads these workshops according to the principles of the Amherst Writers and Artists method.  He doesn't teach so much as facilitate.  His personality is superbly adapted to making a group feel comfortable, safe, and free to explore their own voices.  And that's exactly what we did.  He would throw out 'prompts' to get us started writing.  One prompt was to pretend we were looking at photographs and start writing with the words, "In this one you ...."  Another was to write a thank you note to an every day object like your brush, or a door or ...
These got us going, and then we read aloud.  We all marveled at each others' creations.  We laughed, we cried, and we sat in silence.  It was quite an experience.  I am hoping I can hold on to that feeling of freedom to write ... about anything.  This blog is a great place to experiment.  Watch out!

After the workshop was over, we were invited to a local poetry reading group at the historic Bellamy Road. I even got up and read one piece that I had written over the weekend.  It was in response to Cary's prompt to tell a story using only nouns!  I think I liked this prompt best because it was OK if I didn't know how to put a proper sentence together!  The assignment was to not use sentences!

More photos here.